This invention relates to a system and method of providing Internet connectivity to and through outdoor sports field lighting and outdoor security lighting.
One aspect of the invention relates to a system and method of controlling and monitoring sports lighting and outdoor security lighting and the capability to do so from a remote Internet location as well as using existing or newly installed elevated outdoor sports field lighting and outdoor security lighting as ready-made wireless hubs for a wide area network.
Another aspect of this invention relates to an apparatus and method for an electronic scorebook. In particular, this invention relates to the use of an electronic scorebook that stores scoring information for a sporting contest and updates a scoreboard with the information. This invention further relates to connecting the electronic scorebook or the scoreboard to a network such as the Internet and accessing the electronic scorebook and related information remotely. This invention further relates to integrating software that creates audio and/or graphic description of the recorded information in integrating that information with other related information from other sources such as historical information about participants, sports news, and promotions, public service announcements, and advertisements. It could also include video images in still or action format.
One goal of sports lighting is to provide bright and evenly illuminated playing fields. Similarly, a goal of wide area security lighting is to provide illuminated parking lots, sidewalks, streets, parks, and other areas. Providing bright and evenly illuminated lighting requires a great deal of control over many aspects of lighting. This control may involve the need to turn lighting on or off at particular times. This control may also involve the need to monitor the condition of lights. Owners of sports facilities using sports lighting may not have the expertise or qualifications to properly operate these lighting systems and may find it a drain on resources to properly monitor and maintain the lights due to high cost or other factors.
This problem may be particularly significant for government (e.g. municipality, school district, county, township, state, provincial, territorial, state, federal, city, recreation district, park and recreation district), quasi-public (e.g. privately run athletic fields, leagues, and other venues) and privately owned facilities. Sports and security lighting is found everywhere from small towns to large cities. A single government unit or sub-unit or private owner may operate multiple sports lighting and/or security lighting at multiple locations thus increasing the difficulty in operating and maintaining the lights.
Traditionally, lighting systems are purchased and installed by a group or entity which is then responsible for operation and maintenance, including turning lights on or off. Substantial administrative and labor burdens are used to keep track of schedules and to have a person physically go to the site and turn lights on or off and otherwise monitor and maintain the conditions of the lights.
Furthermore the maintenance and monitoring of lights as well as the control systems used have been limited due to these restrictions. The control of lights has generally been limited to a manual selection of “on” or “off” or a timer that turns lights on or off at a particular time. In security lighting, there has also been use of a proximity switch to turn security lights on or off based on the proximity of a moving object such as a person. More effective features are not used because that would increase the need for maintenance, control and monitoring.
There is a need in the art to address these problems, particularly as recreational activities of many types evolve and expand, and more are conducted at times that need artificial lighting.
Attempts are being made to address these issues. One attempt involves use of cellular telephone transceivers to receive wireless instructions from a remote control center. If voice channels are used then there is an associated cost of service that is recurring and substantial. If only the control channels are used there may need to be an arrangement with a specialized cellular service that can encode and decode the information from the control channels. One example of such a service is that provided by Cellemetry, LLC. Furthermore, given the nature of this type of solution there are limitations related to the available bandwidth and the latency of the communication, thereby presenting limits on flexibility and functionality.
Wide area networks such as the Internet provide wide area communications coverage. However, hard-wired connections are the normal communications link. Hard wiring to date has taken advantage of the existing land line telephone infrastructure. However, capacity and bandwidth are limitations, particularly in plain old telephone service (POTS) implementations. Fiber optics and other wire innovations have presented improvements. However, there are still limitations, such as lack of adequate infrastructure and the associated time and cost of creating and maintaining infrastructure.
Recently, another wire option is use of coaxial cable of the same type as cable television, as the communications link. Speed, throughput, and bandwidth are improved over analog telephone communications. However, the coverage of cable wiring is not as ubiquitous as telephone lines and may not be available from a telecommunications provider in all areas. The required infrastructure results in substantial cable installation and maintenance. There is therefore a need in the art for better access to wide area networks.
Other problems in the art relate to Internet connectivity for general uses and not just for use in controlling sports lighting. The relationship between sports lighting and Internet connectivity will be become clearer in context of the present invention that solves both problems.
One method of providing remote control of devices is the use of Internet based systems such as found in a multitude of Internet devices and appliances. One example of a Internet control system that permits home automation functions such as controlling lights to be controlled remotely via a web browser is the Home Seer product from Keware Technologies. One problem with extending this type of system to sports lighting is the service cost to provide an Internet connection to the light control system. Furthermore there are technical limitations to this type of system. A phone line connection to an Internet service provider is generally not dedicated. When phone lines are not dedicated at both sides of the connection (Internet provider and Internet subscriber) then there is not a continuous Internet connection. If they are dedicated, the service cost will increase, particularly if a long distance connection is used. Even if such lines are dedicated, there can be a loss of the connection due to weather conditions and outages.
Digital services can be used to provide an Internet connection that is continuous. These costs can be substantial where digital lines are used.
Conventional land line systems have been challenged in some markets through the use of wireless systems. Wireless systems have some advantages over land line systems such as fiber optic lines, cable lines, and POTS lines. The first advantage is the amount of bandwidth or speed that a fixed wireless device can provide. For example, if a standard telephone line (POTS) is used in conjunction with a modem, the connection speed is limited to 56 kilobits per second. This speed can be increased by using digital lines but there is an associated increase in cost and limited availability. Examples of digital lines include digital subscriber lines (DSL) connections as well as T1 or T3 connections. DSL connections typically provide speeds of 768 kbits/second. T1 lines can operate at speeds of 1.5 Mbits/second, while T3 lines operate at 4.5 Mbits/second.
A second advantage of wireless systems is that they do not require the same communications infrastructure as landline systems. In landline communications, lines must be run from location to location if preexisting lines are not available. If the lines are not already available, it will take time to build the required infrastructure. Furthermore, the lines will also need to be maintained. Wireless systems do not require the same infrastructure required for landline based solutions.
Wireless communication can be either mobile wireless or fixed wireless. Mobile wireless communication such as that used in cellular phone systems permits receivers or transmitters to move around. The movement of the receivers and/or transmitters introduces additional technical problems including multipath phenomenon and fading problems as is well known in the art. These problems limit the reliability and the speed or bandwidth of a mobile wireless system.
These problems can be overcome by using a fixed wireless system. Despite these advantages, fixed wireless systems have a significant limitation. Fixed wireless systems require a line of sight transmission from a subscriber to a hub. This need for line of sight requirement is related to the frequencies being used. For example, broadband wireless is typically in the bands between 2 to over 40 GHz. At these frequencies, the corresponding wavelength of the radio waves is small. Due to the small wavelengths involved, these radio waves cannot effectively be communicated through physical barriers and are more prone to the multipath phenomenon. Thus there is a need for line of sight transmission.
The Internet has developed at an amazingly fast rate. What is called the Internet backbone currently provides connectivity points, called “points of presence” of the Internet, to most parts of the United States and even the world, mainly using existing infrastructure such as telephone lines. Significantly high speed/throughput rates are achievable. However, connectivity from the points of presence to the ultimate end users is still problematic. This is called “the last mile”. Currently the “last mile” must use wireline twisted pair telephone lines to reach most households. Thus, even if there is high speed/throughput to and from the points of presence, conventional copper phone lines can not handle such speed/throughput. They are therefore disappointingly unsatisfactory in performance. It is simply not cost effective to lay such things as fiber optic lines to residential homes.
Attempts are being made to overcome this problem by using cable TV lines or satellite signals. However, each has their own limitations and represent significant cost.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a method of providing remote control of sports field lighting and security lighting.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method and system of monitoring the status of sports field lighting and security lighting remotely.
It is yet further objective of the present invention to provide a method and system of providing Internet connectivity to sports field lighting and security lighting.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a system and method of providing wireless Internet service to subscribers.
Many locations using sports lighting regularly hold athletic events. Examples of common events are baseball, softball, football, and soccer. A record of many of these games is maintained by keeping a scorebook, such as is well known. Many such sports venues also maintain scoreboards so that players, coaches and spectators can view a summary of the game.
Problems in the art regarding scorebooks and scoreboards are discussed below. The relationship of scorebooks and scoreboards will become clear with regards to a description of the present invention.
In the field of sporting contests, scores and other contest-related information are recorded. Such information is important for many reasons. For example, this information is needed in order to determine the eventual outcome of a contest, including the eventual winner of a contest. In addition, this information is often compiled into statistics, which are used by both participants in the sporting event, as well as coaches, fans and spectators. This type of information has generally been written in a scorebook in order to keep a record of the sporting event.
Some efforts have been to create an electronic scorebook that can be used to keep score and to replace the handwritten scorebook. For example, software can be used on a computer that will permit scoring to be kept. This also facilitates record-keeping with regards to statistics. One example of a computer software product that can be used to keep score for baseball is Fixed It!'s Baseball ScoreBook, e.g. version 2.0C shareware, that operates on a Microsoft Windows platform.
One problem with these prior art types of scorebooks is that it is too easy for inaccuracies to exist in the scoring information. For example, where statistics are involved, a written scorebook provides many opportunities for error in calculations or in transposing numbers and other information. The use of an electronic scorebook can reduce or eliminate calculation errors but also introduces typographical and related errors. Furthermore, the scoring may not be done on a timely or complete basis, particularly where volunteers are utilized for the process.
Furthermore, the software is just dedicated to creating an electronic version of a conventional scorebook. It does not appear to disclose or teach anything about using the scoring for additional purposes, or enhancing the value of electronically scoring a game by integrating it with other functions or systems.
Scoreboards provide updated information concerning the status of sporting contests. For example, at baseball fields, scoreboards will typically provide the cumulative score, the score for each inning, the number of outs in the current inning, the current batters name, the current batter's count and other information, e.g. cumulative hits and errors per team. This and other scoring information must be entered into a scoreboard in order for the scoring information to be displayed on the score board. Also, to begin the scoring the score must record the participants names and other related information.
Room for improvement exists with regard to scoreboards. Many are still manually operated, which are cumbersome and labor intensive to operate. Errors can occur. Electric or electronic scoreboards also may contain errors based on misinformation to the person entering information to the scoreboard, or mistake by the operator. They also require dedicated controllers and input devices, many times have not other function and not integratable with other devices or systems.
Therefore, there is a real need in the art for improvement in how scorebooks and scoreboards are maintained for athletic events. There is also a real need in the art for improvement in the state of the art regarding communication between athletic facilities and participants, players, or other interested parties.
There is a need in the art for utilization of information about a game or event and integration of the information with other information.
It is therefore an objective, feature or advantage of one aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus, method and system that is capable of receiving scoring information and both recording scoring information and updating a scoreboard according to the information received.
It is a further objective, feature or advantage of the invention to provide the capability of calculating statistics based on the scoring and related information and updating a scoreboard with the calculated information.
It is a still further objective, feature or advantage of the present invention to provide a means for broadcasting the scoring information over a network.
Yet another objective, feature, or advantage of the present invention is to provide a system for providing information to and from a scoreboard.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a predefined size summary of the events by selecting what to report from an order of priority and to submit an article to news media for reporting the event.